A lighted crosswalk will be installed over the Thanksgiving break at West Valley High School after parents complained about the danger to students crossing the street to a housing development.

Nicole Tamez, center, is joined by fellow West Valley High School parent Kimberly Martin as she pleaded with Hemet City Council members to put in a street light and crosswalks in front of the school during a meeting on Aug. 21 at which more than 800 citizens expressed their concern for the quality of life in the San Jacinto Valley.

An eight-month campaign by parents of students at West Valley High School in Hemet will pay off over the school’s Thanksgiving break when a lighted crosswalk is installed.

The crosswalk was championed by parents who complained about the danger to students crossing a street where three students were hit by a car in February and at least one other student had been hit before that.

The Hemet City Council voted this week to hire Sierra Pacific Electric to install signs, new handicap access ramps, in-pavement flashing lights and two sets of push-button activators.

The decision was a triumph for a group of parents led by Nicole Tamez, whose daughter attends the school. She said she had been pleading unsuccessfully with Hemet’s former city manager, Brian Nakamura, to install a traffic light, or at least a crosswalk, at the edge of the school’s parking lot where students cross Mustang Way to reach a housing tract on Morgan Hill Road.

The city commissioned a traffic study last April to determine whether a crosswalk or traffic signal was warranted.

Nakamura, who resigned in August and was replaced by Interim City Manager Mark Orme, had offered to install a rail along Mustang Way to discourage students from crossing, Tamez said, but parents objected.

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.